Despite living in Arizona more than any other locale, I’ve never been to Canyon de Chelly (pronounced d’shay for you outsiders). Well, this Memorial Day weekend I and my brother (and assorted hangers on) will fix that. We know to tour the canyon floor, either on foot or by vehicle, you need the services of a Navajo guide. The National Park Service site mentions the need and the cost ($15.00 per hour) but it’s vague about where to get a guide.
Googling othersitesoffer tours at varying rates, both with your vehicle and theirs. Are there also ‘official’ rangers at the visitor center in the monument ? Have any dopers used any of the commercial tours? If so how were they?
I’m getting jazzed about the trip. Plans include staying at La Posada, a railroad hotel in Winslow, a full day at de Chelly itself (Chinle, actually) then through Ganado to stop at the Hubbell trading post (DesertRoomie fell in love with the place when we were there last year), through the Hopi reservation to Tuba City – I remember Tuba Diva’s disappointment at the name vs. the reality – and from there up to Vermillion Cliffs.
I took a guided tour. We signed up at the Thunderbird Lodge right there at the park. We hopped into the back of an old military 6WD, and off we went. Our tourguide was very informative, and answered everyone’s questions…even the dumb ones. There was quite a bit of water on the canyon bottom that day–one of the tour vehicles got stuck, and it was quite fun dragging it out of the deep mud.
The La Posada is really a neat place to stay. I had the Clark Gable Room, overlooking the main entrance and Route 66. The patio is a great place to watch passing trains. Don’t forget to walk down the street and take in the “Standing on a Corner” statue. When I was there last, the bulding next to it had burned down, and there was a chain-link fence surrounding the statue and the mural wall behind it.
If you have a few extra minutes, check out the Old Trails Museum just across the street. Not a major attraction, to be sure, but there’s some cool stuff in there.
I visited the canyon last August. First, I drove around the rim drives, stopping at every overlook. I took some great pictures, thanks to my telephoto zoom lens.
There’s one trail you’re allowed to go on by yourself. It’s a beautiful experience, not too strenuous, and you wind up right at the ruins. I don’t remember the name of the trail.
I visited back in 1994 or so. But unfortunately, for only about 2 hours because we got lost trying to approach the Canyon on unmarked Navajo roads from Window Rock, so we only got to the Canyon in the late afternoon. We walked down (and then back up) the the “one trail” that panache mentioned. What I remember most (other than the scenery) were local school kids running the trail, I figured that they were the cross country team from Chinle. I don’t recall having to pay a cent for what we did there, which was a nice counterpoint what amounted to a very expensive overnight stay at the Grand Canyon earlier in the same roadtrip.
Can’t help ya but I thought you might feel better if I told you that I lived in Arizona for 25 years and visited none of the following: Kitt Peak, Canyon de Chelly, nor the Grand Canyon. Oh, and I never went to the Biosphere2 thing either.
I didn’t/haven’t visited the Biosphere thing either, Opal but that was on purpose. Is there a visitor center at Kitt Peak? And Grand Canyon? Isn’t there a state law or something about visiting that?